Foreign Service Institute Swedish Basic Course

Listen to or downloadaudio (right click and choose Save As...) First you will hear the phrases below in bold, then all of the words and phrases will be pronounced twice.

Basic Sentences

Useful Words and Phrases

good

god, gott, goda

day

dag -en -ar

Hello (how do you do?)

Goddag.

Hi.

Hej. *

morning

morgon -en, mor(g)nar

Good morning.

God morgon.

night

natt -en, nätter

Good night.

God natt.

Good-bye.

Adjö.

Mr.

Herr

gentleman

herr/e -en -ar

Mr. Berg.

Herr Berg.

Mrs., wife

fru -n -ar

Mrs. Stromback.

Fru Strömbäck.

Miss (also to waitress or salesgirl)

fröken, fröken, fröknar

Miss Hansson.

Fröken Hansson.

how

hur

to stand

att stå -r, stod, stått

stand(s)

står

it

det

to

till

How are you?

Hur står det tilI? *

thank you

tack

fine, well

bra

to feel

att må -r, mådde, mått

feel(s)

mår

you (sing.)

du

self

sjäIv

Thanks, fine. How are you?

Tack, bra. Hur mår du själv?

to speak

att tal/a -ar -ade -at

speak(s)

talar

Swedish (the language)

svenska -n -ø

Do you speak Swedish?

Talar du svenska?

yes

ja

little

Iite

bit

grann

Yes, a little bit.

Ja, Iite grann.

no

nej

not

inte

at all

aIIs

No, not at all

Nej, inte alls.

to understand

att förstå -r, förstod, förstått

understand(s)

förstår

me

mig

Do you understand me?

Förstår du mig?

I

jag

you (obj. form)

dig

No, I don't understand you.

Nej, jag förstår dig inte.

to be

att vara, är, var, varit

be (imperative)

var

kind, good

snäll -t -a

please

var snäll

and

och

speak (imperative)

tala

slowly

långsamt

Please speak slowly.

Var snäII och taIa långsamt.

now

nu

Thanks, I understand now.

Tack, jag förstår nu.

Excuse (me).

Ursäkta.

where

var

to be found, exist

att finnas, finns, fanns, funnits

is (found)

finns

there is (are)

det finns

a, an

en, ett

telephone

telefon -en -er

Where is there a telephone?

Var finns det en telefon?

restaurant?

en restaurang -en -er

hotel?

ett hoteII -et -ø

restroom?

en toalett -en -er

room?

ett rum -met -ø

bus

buss -en -ar

stop

hållplats -en -er

here

här

in

i

in the vicinity, nearby

i närheten

subway

tunnelban/a -an -or

station

station -en -er

Is there a bus stop nearby?

Finns det en busshållpIats här i närheten?

a subway station?

en tunnelbanestation?

a train station?

en järnvägsstation?

there

där

away

borta

Yes, over there.

Ja, där borta.

right

höger

To the right.

TiII höger.

left

vänster

To the left.

TiII vänster.

straight

rakt

ahead, forward

fram

Straight ahead.

Rakt fram.

to be able to

att kunna, kan, kunde, kunnat

can

kan

to help

att hjälp/a -er -te -t

Can I help you?

Kan jag hjälpa dig?

to say, to tell

att säg/a -er, sade, sagt

one, you

man

to walk, to go

att gå -r, gick, gått

walk(s)

går

to

till

the American Embassy

amerikanska ambassaden

Can you tell me how you get to the American Embassy?

Kan du säga mig hur man går till amerikanska ambassaden?

walk (imperative)

gå

just, on ly

bara

to see

att se -r, såg, sett

see(s)

ser

Just walk straight ahead. You'll see the Embassy on your left.

Gå bara rakt fram. Du ser ambassaden till vänster.

so, very

så

much

mycket

Thank you very much.

Tack så mycket.

no

ingen, inget, inga

cause, reason

orsak -en -er

Don't mention it. (You're welcome.)

Ingen orsak.

to be allowed (to); to receive

att få -r, fick, fått

may

får

to buy

att köp/a -er -te -t

some, a few, any

någon, något, några

postcard

vykort -et -ø

I would like (to buy) some postcards.

Kan jag få köpa några vykort. *

many

många

to want

att vilja, vill, ville, velat

want(s)

vill

you (polite form, and plural)

ni

to have

att ha -r, hade, haft

How many do you want?

Hur många viII ni ha? *

what

vad

to cost

att kost/a -ar -ade -at

cost(s)

kostar

How much does it cost?

Vad kostar det?

crown

kron/a -an -or

fifty

femtio

ore

öre -t -n

One crown and 50 ore.

En krona och femtio öre (en och femtio). *

to give

att ge -r, gav, gett

give (imperative)

ge

day

dag -en -ar

news

nyhet -en -er

too, also

också

Please give me a Dagens Nyheter too.

Var snäll och ge mig en Dagens Nyheter också. *

Here you are. (Be so good.)

Var så god.

to become, to be

att bli -r, blev, blivit, blir

become(s), will be

blir

How much will it be?

Hur mycket blir det? *

four

fyra

It will be four crowns. please.

Det blir fyra kronor, tack.

Eating and Drinking in a Restaurant

to eat

att ät/a -er, åt, ätit

eat(s)

äter

lunch

lunch -en -er

dinner

middag -en -ar

breakfast

frukost -en -ar

We are having lunch.

Vi äter lunch.

dinner

middag.

breakfast.

frukost.

to look, to see

att se -r, såg, sett

at, on

på

menu

matsedeI -n, matsedIar

May I look at the menu?

Kan jag få se på matsedeln?

a couple, pair

ett par -et -0

cheese

ost -en -ar

sandwich (open faced)

smörgås -en -ar

May I have a couple of cheese sandwiches?

Kan jag få ett pa r ostsmörgåsar? *

waitress

servitris -en -er

to drink

att drick/a -er, drack, druckit

coffee

kaffe -t -ø

Waitress: What would you like to drink?

Servitrisen: Vad vill ni ha att dricka?

Coffee?

Kaffe?

glass

glas -et -ø

milk

mjölk -en -ø

May I have a glass of milk, please?

Kan jag få ett glas mjölk?

water

vatt/en -net -ø

beer

öI -et -ø

wine

vin -et -er

cup

kopp -en -ar

tea

te -et -ø

A cup of coffee, please.

En kopp kaffe, tack.

tea

te

some, a little

Iite

butter

smör -et -ø

bread

bröd -et -ø

Some bread and butter.

Lite smör och bröd.

Numbers

0

noll

20

tjugo

1

en, ett

21

tjugoen, tjugoett

2

två

22

tjugotvå

3

tre

23

tjugotre

4

fyra

24

tjugofyra

5

fem

25

tjugofem

6

sex

26

tjugosex

7

sju

27

tjugosju

8

åtta

28

tjugoåtta

9

nio

29

tjugonio

10

tio

30

trettio

11

elva

31

trettioen, trettioett

12

tolv

32

trettiotvå

13

tretton

40

fyrtio

14

fjorton

41

fyrtioen, fyrtioett

15

femton

50

femtio

16

sexton

60

sextio

17

sjutton

70

sjutio

18

arton

80

åttio

19

nitton

90

nittio

100

(ett)hundra

200

tvåhundra

1,000

(ett)husen

2,000

tvåtusen

100,000

(ett)hundra tusen

1,000,000

en miljon

2,000,000

två miljoner

1,000,000,000

en miljard

2,000,000,000

två miljarder

one trillion

en biljon

Notes on Basic Sentences

At this point we'd like to call your attention to some of the things you've been learning to
say in the Basic Sentences. Sometimes it will be important for you to practice grammatical
patterns from the sentences; for this purpose we are including a Points to Practice section,
where you will find explanations as well. However, there are some other points which you
should understand now, even though you don't need to work with them intensively yet. Read
through this section carefully, and then go back over the Basic Sentences once more to be
sure you are fully aware of what we are pointing out.

Goddag, Hej. While in English "Good day" is an expression used upon taking leave
of someone, Goddag is used by Swedes as a greeting approximately corresponding to "Hello." The informal Hej is more widely used but it implies also the use of the
informal du.

stå tiII, må. Stå till is more formal than må. Hur står det till is therefore
more appropriately asked of a person whom one does not call du.

Du. "You" can be translated with du (sing.) or ni (formal sing. and plural of
du/ni) in Swedish. The use of the informal du is rapidly growing in Sweden and
will most likely soon be the only form of addressing a person. Most young people
nowadays call everyone du (however, eyebrows were raised when a young journalist
interviewing the king called His Majesty du) and du is used between all employees
and management in many factories and offices. However, with conservative and older
Swedes it is wise for a newcomer to be cautious and let the Swede indicate how he
or she prefers to be addressed.

Var finns det ... Det finns is the Swedish equivalent of English "there is" and "there are". The reversed word order used here is a result of the question pattern
(compare English "Where is/are there ... ?").

Kan jag få ... corresponds to the English "may I have". Example: Kan jag få en kopp
kaffe? (May I have a cup of coffee?). Another infinitive may be added to kan jag
få. In that case få loses its meaning of "have". The second infinitive becomes the
key word and kan jag få takes on the meaning of "may I". Examples: Kan jag få
köpa ... (May I buy ... ); Kan jag få se (May I look ... ). This is one of a
number of Swedish equivalents of English "please". Another way of saying "please" is
var snäII och ...

Vill. In Swedish viII "want" and should never be confused with "will" in English.

Krona, öre. The krona is the Swedish currency unit; there were 100 öre per krona. However, the öre has been discontinued.

Dagens Nyheter is one of the two Stockholm morning newspapers.

Var så god has two different uses:
1. meaning "here you are" (a bit of graciousness) when handing over something;
2. meaning "you are welcome" in answer to "thank you".

Hur mycket blir det? Note that the present tense of the verb att bIi (bIir) is
used with the same meaning as the English "will be". Be sure to learn this expression
now; a grammatical explanation will come later.

Ett par ostsmörgåsar. In English we express quantity with the preposition "of",
for example "a glass of milk, a cup of coffee". In Swedish the quantifier simply
precedes the noun directly, and no preposition is used.
Examples: ett par ostsmörgåsar, ett glas mjölk, en kopp kaffe.